After a quick lunch at a Chinese restaurant in the Banawe area, our 5th church was the National Shrine of our Lady of Lourdes in NS Amoranto corner Kanlaon Street. It houses the miraculous and celebrated image of the Our Lady of Lourdes under the care of the Franciscan Capuchins.
The next stop was the Basilica Minore of San Pedro Bautista in the San Francisco del Monte district. It is the oldest Catholic church (founded in 1590) in Quezon City and was declared an important cultural property by the National Musuem in September 2017. The church is dedicated to Saint Pedro Bautista who was a Spanish missionary from Avila, Spain. Part of the 4th batch of the Franciscan order missionaries who arrived in the Philippines, he worked here for 9 years in local communities, building schools, teaching pupils and propagating Christianity. Unfortunately, he was one of the 26 Christians who were martyred in Japan in 1597.
We were fortunate enough that Manang Mayet, a lady who serves at the church toured us around the museum, showed us the cave where San Pedro Bautista prayed and the deep wells that are part of this historically important edifice of worship. It was a fascinating discovery and I'm glad I included it in our itinerary for Visita Iglesia 2025.
Our 7th stop - the Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Cubao was erected in 1950 in a place that used to be rice paddies. It is the episcopal seat of the Bishop of Cubao. It is a beautiful structure in the crossroad of small streets with no alloted parking spaces. Our final stop where we also heard the 5:30 PM Mass. I prayed for my peace of mind amidst my anguish, despair and broken heartedness. May Lord have mercy!
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